Jonas Pares

Reviewed Locations: Congressional Branch near Cherry Foodarama (Quezon City) and Robinson Forum Branch (Mandaluyong City)
House Specialty: Pares
Last Date Visited: October 25, 2015

I feel fortunate to be born at a time where typical filipino food in Manila tastes like the way it should be. If you were born before the 90's and you reside somewhere near the border of Manila and Quezon City in Laloma or Sta. Cruz District chances are that you have tasted this classic dish called Pares in its original form which the Quezon City pares joint Jonas was one of the pioneering restaurant that served this dish in their original Retiro branch.

It is called pares (or "pair") because the dish is served in a pair of bowls each containing the delectable savory braised beef and fried rice. They often use the brisket part with some litid (ligament) and in Jonas, they add plum sauce mixed with the usual spices in their braise sauce to add a deeper and more interesting savory flavor, It is garnished with chopped green onions and fried garlic. And a small bowl of soup is added to form a culinary "holy trinity" for the common man. Pares, in those days were a favorite meal of taxi or cab drivers as attested by their parked cabs forming a sort of taxi fort enclosing the pares joint every lunch time. The meal was cheap, satisfying, and it was delicious.

That was a long time ago. Nowadays Jonas has evolved from a rickety sit-in mom 'n pop karenderia type to a modern airconditioned casual dine-in restaurant which I assume must have alienated their original patrons. Along with the ambience comes the update on their pricing. Their pares meal is now out of reach from the common man. Their new demographics are now well off students, salary workers, and the 80's nostalgic niche market.

Now don't get me wrong, I mean this in a good way. Jonas has managed to avoid dying in a very competitive food/service market here in Manila by doing what they do best. That is to serve their pares dish using their delicious original recipe unlike KFC or Mister Donuts (yup kids, KFC used to taste way better than it should be... another post perhaps). At the risk of being this blog post mistaken for a paid or sponsored article (Foodspots will NEVER do that), I am glad that Jonas management decided to maintain the quality of their food and just adjusted their target market accordingly. Their business will die if they start to water down their recipe for the sake of competitive pricing. Too many competitors that can easily kill them in a pricing war. So what else can they do?

Now back to the food. Aside from their famous house specialty, they also have their well know chicken mami, siopao, and siomai. Several additional items such as fish fillet and chicken spring rolls are also available but I have yet to try them out because everytime I visit their branch I have this unresistable hankering for a meal of pares.

It's not that often that I have the chance to go to Jonas. Last time I ate there (October 2015), their pares still tastes the way it should be. Delicious! My tongue is not spoiled by too many sweet food and softdrinks. I browsed some blogs earlier and it's a pity that some people think that pares should taste something like beef tocino with lots of syrupy sauce. Pares should taste SAVORY with just a hint of natural sweetness due to the braising process not because a ton of sugar and cornstarch was added to the sauce.

The wonderful braised meat had minimal fat, tender and recognizable enough not to be suspected as throw away parts bathing in a dark deep brown hued braise sauce. The fried rice is still awesome with all those wonderful ingredients included in the mix. I also tried their unforgetable siopao which is best eaten together with the chicken mami. The siopao bun was fluffy and tastes good on its own. The dimsum filling was fatty just like old times. On it's own, the meal was very much worth it getting out of your way to go to Jonas if we are just talking about the taste.

Now comes the downside. At 134 pesos for the pares meal (excluding drink), it is too pricey compared to their competitors whose prices range from 70 to below 100 pesos. Not entirely a bad thing considering the quality that you'll get. You get what you pay for. But people looking for something that they can eat while they are waitng for pay day will will just go to the more affordable places. Aside from the price is their serving size, they used to serve pares with a FULL bowl of rice and the beef was a bit more that their current serving size. The serving never fails to kill Food Spots' foodie hard on the moment everytime we see the big bowl half filled with fried rice. You can always buy extra rice or dimsum like what I did. I ordered a siopao but I still need an extra glass of water so my stomach will feel satisfied. But I do get their point that what they are serving is real food compared to the usual fast food establishments. And no mystery meat here. All in, a customer is expected to spend an average of 200 pesos for a satisying meal. Cheap by restaurant standards but too steep for casual fast food types. Therein lies the marketing dilemma of Jonas, their set up is more like a school canteen style fast food joint but their price range is like from an affordable restaurant/ high end fast food. And their house specialty is usually associated with the word affordable. They are somewhat in the gray area in the Manila food scene. And it is a good thing that there are enough people that patronize Metro Manila's quirky foodie gray area.


Service: Very neat pares joint. Anyone can just literally slide in and have lunch with no hassle. Eat and go. As it is a pay as you order restaurant, you do not have to worry about slow waiters when you bail out.

Menu: Everything looks good. Jonas is like a virtual time machine. Curious what real food taste like in the 80's? Order some pares and enjoy the trip.

Value: Too pricey for a casual dine in establishment. Not everyday food for the rest of us.


What Food Spots say about Jonas:

RECOMMENDED
We urge everyone to try it out!

La Paz Batchoy Restaurant

Location: C and R Bldg, ground floor, Escoda Street. Ermita, Manila.
House Specialty: La Paz Batchoy


La Paz Batchoy is a local noodle soup typically consisting of miki noodles, beef and pork clear broth, topped with slices of beef and pork (meat and liver), chopped green onions and crushed pork rinds. Not to be confused with the Tagalog Batchoy variant in which broth has pig's blood, uses only pork meat and with miswa noodles instead of miki.

A bowl of hot batchoy! Presented as is, no touch ups. I am not much of a food stylist and I am just using a PS Vita camera.

Here in the Ermita district of Manila, I frequent a small eatery named after this well known dish that originally came from the southern province of Iloilo. It is run "mom and pop" style with relatives of the proprietor acting as store manager and cashier at the same time. They first opened the joint way back in the early 80's. My family's business is near the place so we were one of the first customers and I feel lucky having grown up eating their awesome batchoy.

The La Paz Batchoy place is "hidden" in the ground floor of the C and R commercial building. Somewhat like a secret foodie place because of a minimal and homemade signage outside the building that you can easily miss. But ask locals in the area around Pedro Gil LRT station (specially in Escoda st.) and they will right away give you directions. It is a dine in restaurant in a building which is occupied by several clinics, a herbal shop, a flowershop, a photocopy store and a bakery. Their place looks like a typical Karenderia but cleaner. Once you are in there, you will sense how old the establishment is because they are still using the same canteen table and have not done any major renovations in the past four decades since they opened.

Clean and respectable batchoy joint. Their menu and Puto steamer in the background.

Their simple menu consists of special and super batchoy, desserts, and the obligatory softdrinks. Here in the Philippines, a lot of people drink softdrinks like water does not exist hehe. I prefer to drink water instead of high sugar carbonated drinks. For a long time, the price of their batchoy was pegged at a low and affordable price. Every lunch and dinner time their place would be packed to the brim that we just order take out (to go) during those times. But sometime during the mid 2000's they were forced to update their price to reflect the changing times and the decline of walk in customers because one of the jeep terminals in the area was relocated by the local government to a far away street to ease traffic decongestion. Their joint still manages to survive though but not that busy compared to their heydays.

Although the orginal cook already passed away, they still serve a mean bowl of batchoy. It consists of a savory broth, topped with crushed chicharon (pork rinds), green onions, generous meat and liver portions, and miki noodles specifically made for their small restaurant. The noodles are not too salty unlike if you buy it directly from the local market. They taste just right. You also have an option to have a raw chicken egg dropped in your batchoy for an extra 10 pesos to jack up the protein value of your meal. The difference between the "special" and the "super" batchoy is that the super has more meat/liver and and extra innards toppings. for the dessert, they serve these delicious slices of puto (white fluffy rice cakes). At some point they had siopao on their menu but I think they ditched it to simplify inventory (I told you they are a mom and pop establishment). The Ilongo (as what people from Iloilo is called) owner does not want to branch out as what other successful food establishments and instead prefers to be content with taking care of this establishment and handing over the managerial duties to her close relatives. Owner must be doing well in her other businesses.

Price for a bowl of batchoy as of writing is 65 pesos for the special and 75 pesos for the super. 10 pesos for the rice cake and since I really do not want to promote softdrink consumption, just drink their service water or just buy bottled water if you are not from the neigborhood and your stomach is not used to the local tap water.

Authencity? Now as this is my first review, let me tell you about what I think about reviewing or judging food based if it is "authentic" or not. I believe if you want to eat food that is authentic, you go to eat the food at the same location it originated from, same people who made the food, and same source of their ingredients. If you don't do that, you are eating guess what: THE SAME DISH. I don't believe bringing over imported cooks from Japan just so you can label your ramen as "authentic" will make the food more respectable and worthy of your top money. I find it silly when people rave about this food joint being "authentic" because it is owned by foreigners or the ingredients were flown in from abroad or being disappointed because the owner of that french bakery is asian. I do not think it is necessary to check if the food is authentic. As long as the food should taste the way it should be, that's fine with me.

Directions: After getting off at LRT Pedro Gil, just walk north bound along Taft Avenue. Walk past the Aglipay church until you reach Llanes Escoda St. When you see L Carlos flowershop at the corner, just walk along the block until you reach C and R bldg. There will be a small lobby there at the entrance where you can see or smell their house specialty. If you have a car and there is no more parking space left, you can use the nearby Aglipay church pay parking.

Service: A well maintained small casual restaurant. Homey environment. No security problem as the building maintains a roving security force in the premises. Not airconditioned as what most small eateries in Manila.

Menu: Their house specialty is good enough to stand the test of time.

Value: You really can't complain about it. For the same price, you'll just get a small burger meal in a fast food restaurant. And you do not have to drink an extra glass of water just to fill full haha. Serving size is just right for regular appetites.

What Food Spots say about La Paz Batchoy Restaurant:

RECOMMENDED
We urge everyone to try it out!

F.A.Q. and Definitions

For those readers not familiar or just confused with local food or terms, here is a page for you if you want the definitiion coming from me. You can make a request if you do not find the word that you are looking for. Also, please read the F. A. Q. list in case you have something in mind to ask about my blog.

I will update this page as much as I can. Thanks for visiting!


F. A. Q.

Q: How frequent do you update this blog?
A: It depends on my free time and how often I eat out. I will do my best to update this blog as much as I can.


Q: How do you choose where you eat for your reviews.
A: I explore the metro in search for good food spots. I also follow leads from friends and news.


Q: Where do you live?
A: I currently reside in Quezon city. I was born, grew up and spent most of my years working in Manila City.



DEFINITIONS
Local terms and definitions. Feel free to ask more about it through this blog.

Chopsuey - A medley of vegetables, stir fried with mushrooms, fish balls and slivers of meat. And served drenched with hot brothy thick sauce. Usually served as a meal with either rice or noodles or just a side dish.

Karenderia (carenderia) - Also called Turo-turo. A typical small eatery in the Philippines serving local or traditional home cooked food characterized with the already cooked food displayed either still inside kawalis (woks) or a showcase display counter where customers just point what food they want to eat and indicate how many servings of rice they will order.

Litson (lechon) - Whole pig skewered in a bamboo spit roasted over charcoal served with a delicious gritty sweet sauce made of liver, bread crumbs and spices. A perennial favorite entry during fiestas or important gatherings. Variations are litson de leche (roasted piglet), litson baka (roasted whole cow) and litson manok (roasted chicken).

Mami - Local term for the usual chinese noodle soup with either chicken, beef or dumplings. Usually topped with vegetables and pork innards.

Pares - A local main dish of savory braised beef paired with fried rice usually served with hot beef broth soup and topped with chopped green onions.

Sinangag na Kanin - Fried rice with garlic, onion, salt and pepper. Usually served at home as a heavy breakfast meal paired with fried eggs or any meat dishes.

Siopao - Steamed chinese sweet bun dumplings usually filled with either asado, bola-bola (meat ball), or bean paste.

Siomai - Steamed (sometimes fried) small chinese dumplings filled with minced meat and vegetables. Served as an appetizer with soy or chili sauce.

Welcome to Food Spots in Manila!

Hi! I am Sam. Welcome to Food Spots. In this blog, I will take you to my journeys throughout Metro Manila and share my food trip experience.

Here is a brief background of myself in order to better appreciate what I write here. I was born in the Manila and grew up eating traditional food at home such as tapa, lomi, taho, balot, tocino, sinangag na kanin, sinigang na baboy and my fave fried chicken. As I grew up, food from the nearby districts gave me a much wider pallete of culinary delights to choose from. Litson from the nearby La Loma district in Quezon City; Pansit, chopsuey, asado, kikiam and camaron rebosado from Binodo; Beef pares and siopao from Retiro Ave near Lourdes School Q.C. where I attended grade school (After class pares or mami/siopao is awesome).

Dietary restriction: None.

And since you are reading my blog, it is much better if you have an idea what my taste for food is like. To set expectations and you have been forewarned, I tend to veer away from the mainstream taste in food (for a good reason). I like to explore, I know what I want, and I do not have a "comfort zone" when it comes to food. If I travel to a far away place, I won't eat at McDonald's or Jollibee, that will be too stupid of me not to try out the local food and waste my opportunity to experience what people in other places eat. Here is a short sample of my "Hate and Like" list which is not necessarily in order.

Likes:
Shawarma Snack Center
Manukan sa Maynila
Chuck's Grub
Shou Zhou
Jonas
Happy Creme Puff

Hates:
Mang Inasal
Greenwich
Old Spagetti House
Chowking

Guys, I am fair when it comes to hating. I will actually eat and pay with my own money more than once before I consider including an establishment in my hate list. I'll gradually provide explanations why I put them there in my posts.

When you read this blog, you read what I personally feel about the food establishment. I won't be accepting any sort of discount or food voucher from owners of establishments when I set out to write a review. I value my integrity as an independent food blogger. I am immune to mass marketing from advertising companies because I do not watch T.V. or tune in to F.M. radio anymore and for someone who took advertising in college, I know how ad campaign works. My taste won't be swayed by glossy marketing campaigns and celebrity endorsers employed by food companies.

There are five people that influenced me in appreciating food. Mother, Lola (Grandmother), Tita Ging (Aunt Ging),Kuya (my older brother), and Stephen Yan of the 80's Canadian T.V. show Wok with Yan. More stories from them as I update this blog.


I will review and rate food establishments according to these criteria:

1. Service - You just don't serve customers by shoving food down their throats. Food is something that you ingest inside your body. Care and respect should be given by the one who serves you your food most specially if you are paying for it. Included in this criteria is how apt the actual environment of the food establishment is in relation to the product that they are serving.

2. Menu - Since it is impossible to sample all items in the menu, I will be looking out how they present and conceptualize their menu. This criteria also include the ordered food that I ate. Extra points if they have real vegetarian entries (not token entries). I make it a point to at least do some basic research in order to be knowledgeable about the food so I can better appreciate the cuisine. I won't order chicken kebab and say "I am disappointed because I was expecting it would taste sweet"... wow, haha.

3. Value - It is unfair to give a low rating for a 75 peso bowl of ramen because you compared it to a 450 peso glamorized version from a mall restaurant. In the food industry, you get what you pay for. So I make it a point to include value for money in my reviews since this is a blog about food establishments not exculsively how the food tastes like.

Rating system:

Not Recommended. I will not waste my time and money here again.

Neutral. I will not hesitate to eat here again but I'll watch what I order. And I do not feel strongly about it.

Recommended. I encourage my readers to try it out!!!

I guess the rating system is self explanatory. I avoid rating systems where I give "Excellent" or "Poor". Hahaha, who I am to judge these establishments.

Most entries here will be coming from "affordable" food joints most specially the obscure or "just below the mainstream radar" types. Those who do not have big marketing budget but definitely deserves our attention because of their awesome establishment. While I do splurge sometimes and eat at hotels or expensive restaurants, I'll make sure to document them in this blog.

My next entry will be a terminology and F.A.Q. page in case readers are confused or not familiar with the food I have mentioned. Also watch out for updates, I tend to find typos or errors after publishing posts haha.